All Manner of Skepticism

THE 3-BLOG LOUNGE: Just landed in Dallas, where anxiety meets the thruway. It’s the corner of Cranky and Doubt. They’ve got spurs, but they ain’t jinglin’ or janglin’. In fact, to hear most tell it, the Mavericks should just go ahead and take a good old-fashioned butt-whippin’, because that’s what they deserve after the first four games of this series. The plain truth about the Mavs is they’ve lost seven of their last eight playoff games, dating back to last year’s Finals, when they lost Game 6 on their home court to Miami. The prevailing mood down here is disgust, and unless they can get Andris Biedrins to the free-throw line with one second to play, Dallas leading by a point, nobody can quite figure out a strategy for this Golden State team. (By the way, that final-minute Biedrins free throw might have been the worst in NBA history. Worse than Shaq. It was absolutely magnificent in its horribleness.). . . It’s looking like Houston as the Warriors’ next opponent, assuming they can finish off Dallas. The Rockets went up 3-2 with a home-court victory over Utah tonight, riding the talents of Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming almost exclusively. Great moment at the very end: Yao, universally recognized as the best big man ever at the free-throw line, stepped up there for two very important shots. Buried them both, wrapping up the victory. McGrady injured his hip in the first half but didn’t seem too worried about it in his postgame interview . . . Andrei Kirilenko and Deron Williams both looked rejuvenated for Utah tonight, while Carlos Boozer and Matt Harpring continued to take the big shots, and count on the Jazz winning Game 6 at home. Hard to see them winning that series in Houston, though.

You wonder if Dirk Nowitzki regrets telling a few reporters before Game 4 that “if we lose tonight, it’s pretty much over.” Not exactly fighting words from your MVP candidate. Then again, Nowitzki is never above an honest critique. After Dallas lost a very exciting and significant regular-season game to Phoenix, in double-overtime, Nowitzki said, “I missed free throws. I missed a great look that could have clinched the win. We lost that game because I didn’t make the necessary plays. I’m 28 now. I shouldn’t be doing that.” A day or two later, he added, “We win 17 in a row, lose one, and people say we’re nothing. It doesn’t mean we’re all of a sudden a team that chokes leads away.” You bet the big man is honest. But you really want to avoid the word “choke” if at all possible . . . Coach Avery Johnson‘s work is coming under fire, as well. This is a guy who revitalized the franchise and somehow made the team even better in this year’s regular season, but a number of experts feel he blew it in last year’s Finals, giving up on the Mavericks’ aggressive, up-tempo style way too early in the series against Miami. “What everybody remembers is our meltdown in the Finals last year,” Nowitzki said a month ago. “The only way we can make them forget is to close it out this time.” Wow. Meltdown. Another interesting choice of words . . . I got into Dallas too late to catch today’s practices, but I just saw a revealing story on espn.com reflecting the team’s fractured psyche. Nowitzki continued his woe-is-me act, saying the Warriors’ defense might be too strong for him to make a big contribution, and Johnson just wasn’t hearing of it. Check it out.

By the early stages of the third quarter, I really thought Dallas had Game 4 won. In the wake of Baron Davis‘ astounding buzzer-beater going into halftime, the Warriors came out with 3-pointers by Jason Richardson and Stephen Jackson, sandwiched around a play in which Jason Terry let a routine pass go right through his hands. The Mavs called time out, down 55-49, and they looked finished. Then Terry hit an 18-footer, DeSagana Diop blocked a Richardson drive, and Devin Harris turned in a 3-point play underneath the basket. It was an admirable comeback in a hostile setting. But not nearly enough . . . Given his game-long brilliance, a tribute to his veteran leadership, it was startling to see Jerry Stackhouse put up an airball, then get called for traveling, during the final 2 1/2 minutes . . . Dallas’ starting centers in the first four games: Nowitzki, Erick Dampier, Dampier again, then Diop. Who’s next, Kevin Willis? . . . Perusing the NBA Guide for some research on playoff upsets (check the Tuesday Chronicle on that), I came across the Boston Celtics’ 1965-66 team photo: the portrait of a lucky man. Don Nelson had been a little-used, lightly-regarded forward as he broke in with the Lakers in the early 60s. Then one day, he was traded to the Celtics. He showed up for training camp in the fall of ’65. Surrounding him were Bill Russell, Sam Jones, John Havlicek, K.C. Jones, Satch Sanders, Willie Naulls and Larry Siegfried. It came down to the Finals, and a thrilling seven-game victory over the Lakers. Nelson earned two more titles in the Russell years, and two (as a very significant contributor) when Havlicek, Dave Cowens and JoJo White were the cornerstones. What a foundation for Nelson’s life in coaching . . . Al Harrington‘s play at the offensive end has become increasingly disturbing. Time and again, he contributes nothing. Late in the first half Sunday night, he went to the free-throw line and missed. Then he really missed, sending a preposterous thing off the front rim. No feel for the shot, no adjustment, no nothing. He was lucky that a lane violation was called, and he did cash in the reprieve, but this guy had a dubious playoff reputation in Indiana, and it is continuing here.

Solid comments coming out of the Warriors’ locker room Sunday night — which is to say, boring. No predictions, no bravado, no Tracy McGrady logic (he once announced what a pleasure it was to reach the second round, when in fact the first-round series wasn’t over, and he never did reach the second round) . . . A reader pointed out an ongoing NBA blog by Steve Kerr, a storied outside shooter in his day. Musing about Baron Davis as a free safety, soccer forward or tennis player, Kerr wondered if there’s a better athlete in any sport . . . The kind of thing that fuels the Warriors: In a lengthy and entertaining round-table discussion among NBA experts on the eve of the playoffs in ESPN Magazine, there was just a fleeting reference to Nelson. Countless players were mentioned, but not a single Warrior . . . Beautiful decision by Nelson, one most coaches wouldn’t make: When Davis picked up his second foul early in the first quarter, Nelson left him in the game. Figured (correctly) he has no chance with Davis on the bench, so what the hell? Davis wound up playing 44 minutes and orchestrating a masterpiece . . . The Warriors’ fans had the time of their lives as Game 4 wound down. I’ll tell you one thing they didn’t do: wave those idiot towels. They played along for a while, but when it came down to serious business, those things were on the floor, down there with the little piles of beer-stained ketchup. Where they belonged . . . Spending the first half in the stands, I had the misfortune of sitting behind a completely drunk guy who stood up for virtually every Warrior possession. At one point, I gently asked him to sit down. He turned and stared at me, hard. “Dude,” he said. “Thirteen years.” I didn’t have a comeback.